the Titans
by Freddy Mercury's Moustache
Summary: Sometimes even the smallest of mistakes, like being late to an event, can lead to the strongest friendships, and greatest of teams. This is the story of the Titans, from the roots to the branches, and how it all happened.
1. 0 We Honour Thee

**-We Honour Thee-**

**Gotham City**

An alarm clock buzzed. It buzzed and buzzed, much to the annoyance of the alarm's target. A slender hand shot out of the bed covers beside the clock, and batted it on the ground. The hand then picked up a heavy weight, also on the clock's former perch, and unceremoniously dumped it on the now silent and destroyed device.

Then another sound cut through the momentarily peaceful morning.

"Melina" The voice was feminine, and would usually be considered kind, yet forceful. On this day, the voice's victim only found it to be loud and painful.

"Melina!" Now it was shouting, the sound muffled by the wooden door between, and the added anger of it's tone only served to further annoy 'Melina.'

"Dammit, Melina Drake Lance, you get your butt out here right now!" Finally, Melina pushed her covers off to reply "why?" The girl known as Melina Lance was young, only about eighteen, and had a currently mussed head of golden blonde hair.

"Because if you don't, we'll be late for the event!" The voice sounded like 'the event' was supposed to trigger some memory, instead it confused her.

"Okay..." This was mainly to get the voice off her back.

What event? Was there an event? The only thing Melina could think of was the big celebration for the Justice League of America saving Earth from... Oh no.

This 'event' was basically the biggest day of the year, when the president himself would thank and congratulate the Justice League, her aunt included, for saving Earth from the threat of a kryptonite meteor, and that was what scared her. Melina Lance was not only a young Gotham girl, but the niece and protege of the one and only Dinah Lance, better known as Black Canary, arguably the greatest martial artist in the world. Melina went by the name of 'Blackhawk' after a retired hero group from the early 1900's.

She kicked up off her bed and ran to her wardrobe where her black hooded costume hung, complete with no sleeves and the classic Blackhawk symbol, and slipped it on, only suffering two fumbles where she tripped over in her rush. Melina decided she didn't want to get her mother in trouble, so she ducked out of her room shortly, clad only in tights and a night-shirt.

"Mom?" She called downstairs.

"Are you ready?" The voice from earlier called back.

"Well, no, but you can go ahead now, I'll catch up soon"

"You know how I feel about that"

"Yeah, I know, but trust me... Please?" A beat passed.

"Fine, but don't be too late" good. Melina's mother was Sara Lance, older sister of Black Canary, and a damn good lawyer. She had argued against some of Gotham's darkest criminals, and never even broke a sweat, or shuddered in fear.

Melina finished pulling on her uniform, and grabbed her utility belt off her desk. In it's pouches sat several dozen sphere devices, each with various uses, some Canary Cry Bombs, or CCBs, palm-sized globes which simulate the sonic blast that was Black Canary's signature 'Canary Cry', and two collapsable batons that could be connected to form a bo staff.

Melina ran down the stairs, taking two at a time, and into the garage where her midnight black motorbike sat dormant.

She mounted the vehicle, and sped outside, going almost four times the speed limit to make it to Washington D.C in time.

**Themyscira**

The birds were chirping on the island of Themyscira, or Paradise Island to many, as the sun shone brightly in the skies. Themyscira was well renowned as the home of the great Amazonian warrior women.

A young girl of nineteen woke up in her chambers, expecting to spend her day sparring with Artemis, and training the younger warriors, not that they needed it. She was rather rudely, however, pulled out of these thoughts when the familiar clanging of armour, and the painful impact of metal into her lap sent the girl shooting up straight.

Standing over her was the princess of the island, Diana of Themyscira, known in man's realm as 'Wonder Woman'. She was clad in her ceremonial golden armour, her sword strapped to her side, and her famous lasso hung on her belt.

"Put it on Donna" she meant business. 'Donna' looked at her lap to see a chest-plate of identical design, only less detailed, and in a silver colour. As younger sister, technically mystic clone actually, of the princess, Donna Troy was expected to act proper, much in the same way Wonder Woman was. But Donna wasn't Wonder Woman, she was Wonder _Girl_.

"I am _not _putting on that stupid armour" she argued.

"You have no choice"

"I _always _have a choice"

"I've hidden your costume, so it's the armour, or your sleepwear" Donna hated these little tiffs they had.

"I'll find it"

"Fine then, and while you do that, I'll be at the event waiting. _Don't _be late"

What event? Was there an... Oh.

Donna jumped out of bed and rushed to check all of the usual hiding places, which lost her a great deal of time. The costume itself wasn't hard to don, but Diana was great at costing her sister time.

By the time Donna had put on her outfit, Bracers of Submission, and Lasso of Persuasion, it was far too late to make it in time. She flew down to the docks where the Zeta-tube exit stood, authorised for women and a select few men only, and zapped herself to Washington D.C.

**Gotham City**

Deep down below Gotham, in a cave known to all, but unseen to just as many, a girl was sparring with a training dummy. The stuffed enemy had been pounded on for almost two hours by this point, and it didn't look like the assailant was going to stop.

"Steph!" The girl turned around. Behind her, two young men, one in black kevlar with a blue design on his chest, and one in a brown coat with a red motorbike helmet by his side.

The girl in question was only seventeen, and her ashy-blonde hair was stuck to her forehead and neck with sweat. She often came down to the training area, always wishing to keep her figure, one she had built with late-night combat against criminals twice her size, several times a week.

"Why are you down here?" The one in kevlar asked, his name was Dick Grayson, or Nightwing, a former sidekick turned occasional partner of the World's Greatest Detective "and where's your suit?" The second was Jason Todd, or Red Hood. He was the Dark Knight's second protege turned colleague.

"Why would I need my suit?" She was confused. Bruce always left daytime patrols to the police.

"Duh, that big event's in like, an hour" Jason explained.

Stephanie was still confused... Oh wait, _that _event. Bruce was gonna kill her. Stephanie Brown was far more than your average high-school senior. By night, she was Batgirl, the crime-fighting sidekick to billionaire Bruce Wayne's alter ego, Batman.

"Oh god no!" She tore off her kick-boxing gloves and ran up the stairs to where her suit was waiting in it's case, right beside her predecessor. Speaking of whom.

"Your in trouble~" Barbara Gordon smirked, rolling by in her wheelchair. Before Stephanie was Batgirl, Barbara was, but that ended when the Joker crippled her in an effort to send her father (biological uncle), Commissioner Jim Gordon, insane. But Babs never let her handicap prevent her hero-work, and now acted as Oracle, somewhat of an information broker, but for heroes.

"Look, just tell Bruce that I'll catch up soon" she asked, and Barbara nodded. Steph pulled on her Batgirl suit a quick as possible, which was quite a feat due to it's skin-tight kevlar, and dozens of hidden tricks.

"Do try to be on time miss Stephanie" an old englishman said from his place at the Bat-computer.

"I promise I will Alfred" Alfred had been Bruce Wayne's butler and caretaker ever since his parents were tragically killed when he was a boy. If there was anybody the Batman cared about, it was Alfred.

Stephanie mounted a black motorcycle that was waiting for her by the exit from the cave, and sped out with reckless abandon, hoping to reach Washington D.C soon. She didn't want to be late.

**Washington D.C**

Blackhawk had been speeding down the freeway for a good hour now, and was quickly nearing her target. On the way, she had cutoff almost ten drivers, and given twice as many middle-fingers.

She drove down the freeway off-ramp into the city, and used every shortcut she could to reach the White House. The ceremony she was heading to was to be held on the Whit House front lawn, where the entire League, and whatever friends and family were safe from secret identity troubles, would be present, in addition to hundreds of reporters no doubt.

The closer she got, however, the more uneasy she felt. Where was the din of hundreds of heroes and reporters this turnout was sure to have?

She drove up to the lawn, and dismounted her bike to the site of hundreds of panicked people, only they were frozen in thick chunks of ice.

Blackhawk pulled the batons from her belt and extended them, in case the perp was still present of course. She carefully tread through the fields, passing many unknown faces, and one or two she did recognise.

The sound of a foot stepping into some snow stopped her. She closely listened out for another noise, but none came. She continued her trek, doubly careful, when the distinct sound of a cap flapping in the breeze caught her attention. She turned and lifted her batons up, only to find the noise came from a blonde girl in a tight-black kevlar suit. The golden bat on her chest speaking volumes.

"Jesus Batgirl, I was about to take you head off!" Melina breathed out.

"I know" Batgirl seemed uninterested "c'mon, we might find evidence of who did this further up" Red nodded, and the girls continued to quietly move towards the front of the frozen crowd. Now they were passing bigger names such as Black Lightning, Iris Allen-West, the Flash, Cat Grant, even Green Lantern was frozen solid. It was like a whole battle was preserved in time with thick ice.

"Who could've done this?" Hawk asked neither girl in particular.

"I don't know, but I have some ideas."

They were about to take another step, when a silver rope wrapped around them both, and pinned the girls together. A tall black-haired woman stepped out in front of them, a stern glare printed on her face. The frown softened into shock, however, when the assailant saw who she had caught.

"Batgirl? Blackhawk? Why are you here?"

"Same as you Wonder Girl. Late to the party, found the League frozen" Hawk explained. Wonder Girl slipped the lasso off them, and clasped it to her belt once more.

"Any ideas?" She asked the blondes.

"Well, this _does _have Mr. Freeze written all over it" Batgirl said.

"No. Freeze can't take on the while League and win. He had help" Melina disagreed.

"We'll find Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. They're the heads of the League, they can help" Wonder Girl decided.

Hawk didn't like the idea of not saving her aunt yet, but she accepted the decision in stride.

They all power-walked to the stage that had been set up, to find a cluster of icy bodies where the president was frozen, his secret service protecting him. Beside the cluster, three distinct scratchy drag-marks were visible, where three very heavy object had been lugged off the stage.

"I'll analyse the scene. Won't be too long" Batgirl assured.

Melina looked out to the crowd, and almost immediately spotted her aunt. Black Canary had been frozen mid-cry, while her arm was tightly wrapped around Melina's mother. No doubt, had she been here on time, she'd be frozen right there too.

"Girls, come here" the three reconvened on the stage "I found where our perps went by checking the general direction of where these scrape marks are heading, and wherever can comfortably sustain a sub-zero climate in that direction." At their confused looks, she elaborated further "basically, our ice-man, or men, decided to drag the League heads to the 'Dairy-ère Ice Creamery-" the name elicited a snorting laugh from Melina "-in downtown D.C" they nodded, and set out to make it to the ice creamery before the perps could do anything too drastic.

**Dairy-ère Ice Creamery**

How did Wonder Girl end up in this position? Oh yeah, she refused to wear her ceremonial armour, and was now breaking into a large ice cream shop alongside Blackhawk and Batgirl to save the League, all because she could be a stubborn ass sometimes.

"The main freezer is located in the second basement, they'll be there" Batgirl read off her gps device.

Donna broke off a vent cover, and the girls braced themselves for the icy blast of wind about to hit them. This was the most covert way to get to the freezer.

They crawled through for a while, Batgirl first with her map, and Donna last due to size, but Blackhawk's butt was getting to be an annoying sight.

"How much further?" She called out to the front.

"Just a little more, I'm picking up vocal frequencies"

They moved further up and ended up over a large intersection of vents. It was wide enough for all three girls to comfortably face each other, and look down through the vent cover below.

Underneath, they could clearly see three men talking in a heavily frosted room.

"Now what?" One asked. He wore a light blue hooded jacket, and had a strange gun attached to his waist. Captain Cold

"Well, we froze the League, so nobody can stop us" an older man said. Icicle Sr.

"Which means now-" the last began. He wore a metallic power-suit, with a dome over his white, bald head. Mr. Freeze "-we live like kings"

Donna looked up and only saw Blackhawk. Batgirl had disappeared. The other girl noticed this disappearance too.

They looked back down to see her standing behind the ice villains "then allow me to be your Jaimie Lannister" she smirked, before throwing a gold batarang at them. It exploded into a cloud of smoke, which the other girls took advantage of to drop down as well.

Batgirl immediately jumped at Captain Cold, intending to disarm him, rendering the man helpless.

She tucked into a roll and kick herself out of it, into his gut. He recoiled in pain, but the gun held fast as he pulled it from it's holster. He fired at her, and she ducked each one, getting lower and lower to the floor. Cold stepped over her and aimed his gun at her head. She rolled backward, legs over head, as the beam of icy energy impacted the spot her head had been in a moment ago.

At she fought, Donna had moved to attack Freeze, by wrapping her lasso around his gun-arm, and tugging him into a punch. A heavily armoured hand shot out to stop the punch, and the two entered a struggle of power. Donna threw her arm out to the side, which in turn forced Freeze's arm, and threw a knee up to meet his gut. The impact was weakened by his armoured suit, but it had the same effect of knocking him back, so Donna could retract her arms to rethink her strategy.

During the other battles, Blackhawk had dropped directly onto the unsuspecting Icicle Sr. Sending his ice ray sliding across the icy floor. As Icicle hit the ground, her threw the girl off and onto the ground too. They looked up in sync, and saw the gun, before looking to each other. They each scrambled to reach it first, but. Icicle's natural connection to ice gave him the upper hand.

Batgirl was now jumping over, and ducking under Cold's ice blasts, the man never giving her an opening to attack. His many tussles with the Flash had made him used to fighting a fast opponent.

Wonder Girl was now trying to club Freeze with her fists, as her froze her arms. Each hit shattered the ice coating her limbs, but did little damage to the large man.

Blackhawk continued to dodge Icicle's shots too, but her lack of co-ordination one the slippery ice gave him an advantage. Every time she attempted to throw explosive pods at him, she would slip, and they'd miss by a significant margin.

"Girls!" Batgirl called "I'm having some trouble here, could use some help!"

"We're _all _having trouble!" Donna yelled back "these fights are too evenly matched!"

"Then we swap!" Blackhawk replied, stopping her avoidance of Icicle, so slide over at Freeze.

Batgirl somersaulted over another blast, and rolled to Icicle. Her acrobatic skill, mixed with his lack of experience against a speedy foe, had him easily outmatched. The girl dodged every ice blast easily, and without slipping, she threw a batarang at his firing-arm. The device exploded on contact, encasing his arm in a thick red foam, which hardened in moments.

Wonder Girl had turned to march at Cold, who fired icy blast after icy blast at her, each one adding to the frosted coat on her arms. She didn't even buckle under the wright growing on her arms, before she swung one at Cold. It hit him, and he flew at the wall, hitting it painfully. He looked back up, and the last ing he saw was her other arm rocketing forward at his face.

Blackhawk jumped onto Freezes back, and began hammering at the dome over it. She finally broke the do e open, and began to wail on his exposed skull. He quickly grabbed her, and threw her off himself, before freezing over the dome with his freeze-ray. She stood up, and smirked at him as a faint beeping could be heard. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small pod had been dropped in his helmet, seconds before detonating, and freezing his head inside it's own case.

The three girls, now having defeated the ice villains, turned simultaneously to an elevated platform at one end of the freezer. On it stood the three heads of the Justice League, each frozen in mid-attack.

Batgirl walked over to Batman and pulled out a small device. The ice began to heat up and melt.

"These are only single-use, but it should thaw Batman out soon" she explained.

"Well you'd better have a second for my sister" Donna replied.

Batgirl shook her head "only the one, sorry"

The other girls looked incredulous "but, what about the others!?"

"Calm down, Batman has more of these, and they're multi-use too, we'll get everyone thawed out."

"Superman has heat-vision though, and _that's _infinite-use!" Blackhawk argued.

"Superman's laser vision is incredibly high-powered, and way too risky" this was said in a 'don't argue' kind of tone.

A cracking and a thud behind them caught their attention. Where Batman was once frozen, he now knelt on the ground, panting.

"Batman!" Batgirl helped him to his feet.

"What happened?" He groggily demanded.

"Captain Cold, Mr. Freeze, and Icicle Sr. Froze the whole League. Don't worry though, we beat 'em" Blackhawk explained.

"All by yourselves?" He seemed dubious.

"Yes" Donna confirmed brusquely.

He stood up straight, and placed two more thawing devices on Superman and Wonder Woman.

**Washington D.C**

Once they had thawed all of the icy-trio's victims, and explained what happened to the president, the ceremony for thanking the League began again.

Stephanie sat front row, with Wonder Girl to her left, and Blackhawk leaning in between them.

"So, we should totally do this again, right?" Blackhawk suggested.

"Do what?" Wonder Girl asked.

"Duh, team up!" She whisper-shouted "we kicked butt today! _She_ even referenced Game of Thrones!"

"Well we did win against three heavy-hitting criminals" Steph agreed.

"... And in addition to the Justice League's brave actions, I'd also like to personally thank three courageous girls for their actions today. Thanks to the efforts of Batgirl, Wonder Girl and Blackhawk, we have all been saved from the terror that threatened America on this day!" A booming applause followed, and the girls enjoyed the attention they received from it.

Later, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Black Canary caught up with their proteges.

"We're all _very _proud of what you did today, but that doesn't excuse that you were late" Canary scolded.

"But auntie Dinah!"

"No" Batman glared "she's right. You girls _all _had specific orders to be here on time, and you disobeyed them."

"And we saved your lives because of it!" Stephanie argued.

"It doesn't matter if you save our lives or not, you didn't listen to us" Wonder Woman continued.

"So what are you gonna do? Send us to our rooms?" Wonder Girl challenged.

The three Leaguers looked to each other, and back to the girls, before chorusing "you're grounded"


	2. 1 In Man we Trust

**-In Man We Trust-**

**Star City**

"Canary!" She cried.

A green arrow, reminiscent of the hero by the same name, soared by Canary, embedding itself in the ground a short space away.

"He's _mine!_" A woman with shirt red hair, and a psychotic glare screamed.

Canary and Blackhawk reconvened "How is she beating us?" Canary asked incredulously. If Melina's aunt was anything, it was awesome.

"Don't know, but I called in the cavalry" the younger blonde replied, looking up to see two girls descend via their own different means.

Wonder Girl hit the ground with a thud, and threw her shield up to block an incoming arrow.

Batgirl landed with far more grace, and only ducked her head to the left as another Arrow flew through the air past her.

"So, who is this?" The youngest girl asked as Canary ran forward again.

"Cupid-" Blackhawk ducked a stray arrow "-my aunt's biggest rival"

"In-" Wonder Girl blocked another arrow "-in what?"

"Trying to get into Green Arrow's pants, c'mon" she gestured forward, and they ran at Cupid who was busy firing arrows at Black Canary.

Blackhawk jumped to Canary, and pulled her down behind an external air conditioning unit in anticipation of the next attack.

Meanwhile, Wonder Girl knelt on the ground and held her shield over her head, as Batgirl threw one of her explosive batarangs, attached to an armed CCB, and covered her eyes with her cape when it detonated. The combined effect of the batarang's explosion, and the CCB's sound wave hit Cupid, temporarily shutting down her main senses.

Wonder Girl stood up and slung her shield over her back, pulling off her lasso at the same time.

She whipped the rope forward, and it tightened around Cupid's body, restraining her limbs.

Cupid's senses returned, and she saw she had been beaten. She began to scream curses at heroes, threatening death and grievous harm.

"Shut it" Melina stepped forward, and smacked the psychotic woman across the face with her baton, shutting her up.

"And _that,_ is how you do it" Melina smirked, high-fiving the other two girls.

"If there was any doubt before, we make a great team" Wonder Girl nodded.

"If only _they _saw that" Batgirl reminded them, jerking her head to the approaching Black Canary.

"Good work girls, and while I appreciate the assistance, you two should be with your mentors, not us" Canary said.

"Not this again" Batgirl sighed.

"No Batgirl, I mean it. Batman and Wonder Woman taught you two everything you know, and that means you're _their _partners, not _her _teammates. And furthermore, I thought you were grounded."

"But we need to be let off the leash some time" Wonder Girl argued.

"And our teamwork is impeccable" Batgirl continued.

"_Nothing_ is impeccable after a few days of work" Canary retorted.

"I don't know, they were pretty good just now" Cupid piped up.

"See, even _she _thinks we work well together, and if we were an officially sanctioned _team-_" Canary didn't let her niece finish.

"No, you girls have hardly any experience working in a group, and even less together. My final answer, is no" she walked over to Cupid and lifted her up off the ground "I expect you home soon" she told Melina, before leaving to take Cupid to the police.

**Gotham City**

The girls had split up and regrouped in Gotham, Blackhawk having 'commandeered' some snacks from a local convenience store.

They sat atop a high-rise building, legs dangling over the edge, Batgirl staring out at the city, Wonder girl fiddling with the knot in her lasso, and Blackhawk stuffing her face with various junk foods.

"She right you know" Batgirl suddenly said aloud. The other two looked at her confused, and Hawk halted stuffing her face with Doritos. "Canary. She's right. How can we be a team?"

"We hardly know each other" Donna concurred.

Blackhawk sighed "true, I don't even know your names..." She frowned.

"Donna Troy" Wonder Girl announced after a moment. The others looked to her now "my name. It's Donna Troy"

Batgirl smiled and pulled the cowl off her head "Stephanie Brown"

Blackhawk thought for a moment, and then slipped her hood off, and removed her domino mask "Melina Lance"

"So now we all have names, but a formal introduction doesn't mean they'll let us work together" Steph said.

"Well... We _could_-" police sirens in the distance stopped Melina mid-sentence.

"We _could _check out whatever that is" Donna decided.

**Crime Alley**

They reached the source of the activity, and found a ring of police cars, several unconscious or maybe even dead officers, and a pair of figures in the middle of the chaos.

One was unmistakably Green Arrow, but holding him by the neck, with a dagger poised in the air was another man, in an outfit similar to Arrow's only black, and with a mask that blocked out any recognition of his face.

Not about to let someone kill the man her aunt was dating, Melina ran forward and tossed an unarmed CCB at him. The heavy globe impacted the assailant's skull, and forced him to grab his head in lieu of holding Arrow.

"Don't know who you are, but your _so_ going down" she pulled out her batons.

"Name's Komodo. Now I don't know what you're thinking little girl, but your messing with the _wrong_ guy."

'Komodo' ran at Melina, and brought his dagger down at her. She rolled out of the way, intending to buy the other girls some time to plan a proper attack.

He tugged the dagger out of it's place, and swung at Melina again, who saw the familiar glint of a golden batarang being prepped for throwing.

She threw her arm up to meet Komodo's, and stopped the blade a few centimetres from her neck.

"You think I'm gonna be beat by a little _girl_?" Komodo asked derisively.

"Nope" Melina smirked through the struggle "I'm gonna cheat" Stephanie's batarang was released, and it cut through the air before imbedding into his hand. He roared in pain and rounded on the other girl, who stood menacingly on the hood of a car, glaring down at the man.

"Now _this _is interesting" he grinned. Komodo threw his leg back, and his foot smacked Melina in the head.

"Oh, oops" Batgirl leapt at the man, and grabbed him by the neck. She flipped over his body, brining his upper-half down to the ground with her, giving a sickening crack as his spine bent a way it shouldn't.

She let go, and he stumbled forward, trying to forget the pain in his back, and regather his thoughts.

"Your a... A feisty one... Ain't 'cha" he panted "no matter... You'll be dead soon" he pulled another dagger out of his boot to accompany the first which had yet to leave his hand, and ran at the girl. As his blades came down to slice her, a silver rope shot out and bound his hands together, before tugging the, backwards.

"I beg to differ" Donna said from behind him.

Komodo twisted his head to get as good a look he could at the newcomer "three against one, you girls don't play nice do you?"

"Not for murderous _scum _like you" Wonder girl spat.

"Ouch sweetie, even the baddies have feelings" he feigned offence "but, I guess it's time to go now" in a few short fidgets, he managed to loosen Donna's lasso to free his hands, and sprint at the still unconcious Green Arrow.

"It's been fun, but I really should leave" he picked up Arrow "ta ta" Komodo threw down a small pellet, which erupted into a thick plume of smoke, concealing his retreat,

As his form disappeared into the cloud, Steph threw one last batarang at him, and when the smoke cleared, he was gone, as was Green Arrow.

"Oh god, it's like I skulled a bottle of Jack Daniels!" Melina moaned as she stood up "where's Komo-douche? And G.A?" She looked to her friends. Their silence was all-telling.

"God damn it! We lost him, didn't we? and now Green Arrow is dead!" She swore and kicked a Police car hubcap.

"Oh ye of little faith" Batgirl smirked and pulled out a tracking device. "That batarang was a tracker. He might know it's there eventually, but we can get a sense of where he's heading"

"Excellent, where is he?" Donna asked her.

"Uh... that way" she pointed in the direction he was heading, which happened to be towards a tall building with a glowing green logo.

"Son of a..."

**Queen Industries, Gotham Branch**

Arrow woke up to find himself suspended by his feet, off a horizontal flagpole, and over a drop... a _very big_ drop... try several dozen stories kind of drop.

"Ollie! your awake finally!" A mocking voice sounded above him. He looked up, or down rather, to see a man in a black mask balancing on the flagpole he was tied to.

"Who the _hell _are you?!" Ollie demanded.

"Well, _obviously _I can't tell you my _real _name, but you _can _call me Komodo for the-" he checked the watch on his right arm "-few more seconds you'll be alive."

He lowered the dagger he held to the rope tying Arrow to the pole, and severed it quickly. His descent lasted seconds however, as a nearly invisible force grabbed him on his way down, and swung back up to the roof, placing him on the ground.

"Bats?" Arrow asked. His saviour turned around "not the one _your _thinking of" she said.

"You little-... what, your friends couldn't join in?" Komodo mocked.

"No" Batgirl smirked "they just wanted to make an entrance" another person swung onto the building from a grappling hook, only this one hit Komodo in the back, and pin him to the ground.

"Surprise dick-head!" Blackhawk yelled obnoxiously into his ear.

He twisted out from under her, and jumped to his feet "I don't know _who_ you think you are, but-" he was cut off by a kick to the side of the head. He stumbled sideways to the edge of the building, and turned to see Wonder Girl standing on it's edge.

"What goes around, comes around" she referenced him kicking Melina earlier.

"I'm gonna enjoy carving you all up like turkeys" he growled, pulling a knife, much larger than his previous daggers, and brandished it at the three girls "well? Who first?" He beckoned.

"Me" while Komodo had been busy with Melina and Donna, Batgirl had freed Green Arrow from his bonds. He had picked up the bow that had been thrown aside, presumably while he was unconscious and alone with the assailant, and knocked an arrow.

He loosed, and the arrow cut through the air with pinpoint precision, impaling his shoulder. He cried out, and stumbled back, looking at the four heroes like a wounded tiger.

"This isn't over Arrow, I _will _get what's mine" he dropped another smoke pellet, but this time Steph didn't bother throwing at batarang.

When the smoke cleared, the girls turned to each other, and exchanged high-fives.

"Two-out-of-two, we're on a roll!" Melina grinned.

"Eat _that _Justice League" Stephanie laughed with her.

"I pity whoever has to face us next" Donna smirked.

"Great work girls" Arrow smiled. They turned to him with exasperated looks, expecting a telling-off for working together "not only did you beat an extremely dangerous criminal, but you also saved my life. If you girls need _anything, _name it and you got it"

They exchanged knowing looks "well..."

**The Watchtower**

"I'm telling you Dinah, they're ready"

"And i'm telling _you _Ollie, no means no"

After the girls requested Ollie convince Batman, Wonder Woman and Black canary to legitimise their team, he had called them all to the watchtower for a meeting. The early as always Canary was all that had arrived.

"What's wrong?" Diana entered the room.

"Ollie seems to be hellbent on convincing us that the girls might be ready to go independent" Dinah stated.

"They'd be with each other, and they _are _ready" the man explained.

"We have already given our answers, and they remain the same" the princess said.

"You two weren't there, they handled a criminal who was able to overpower _me _on their own" Ollie argued.

"If the report is true, _your _the one who stopped him" Batman appeared behind the archer, who turned to face the Dark Knight.

"If the report is true, I shot an arrow and scared him off. The straw that broke the camel's back"

"No. The girls are _not _going independent" the three mentors turned and marched away from Ollie.

"If you just pulled you heads out of your goddamn asses, maybe you could see how good they _really _are!" He yelled at them. They stopped in their tracks.

They turned back to him, and exchanged long looks.

"I'll give them _one _chance" Batman decided "I'll send them on a mission, and only _then _will we decide"


	3. 2 Champion of Cronus

**-Cronus-**

**Batcave**

"Wrong, do it again"

Donna and Stephanie repeated the same sequence of steps.

"Again"

Black Canary and Batman had called the girls to the Batcave, Donna and Melina being given full access, for combat training. What they _hadn't _been told, was that it would turn into Wonder Girl and Batgirl sparring in the same way for several hours, while Blackhawk sat on the sidelines, eating candies, and enjoyed show.

"Why doesn't _she _have to do this?" Donna asked.

"Because I already know Tae Kwon Do" Melina replied, chewing on a liquorice piece.

"So do I!" Steph complained

"Maybe Batman knows your level of skill, but I don't. Again" Dinah ordered.

"Girls" a deep voice called from above. They turned and saw Batman descending a flight of stairs, with an old man in tow.

"Finally, I was about to cough up a lung... or two" Stephanie complained.

The three young girls stood up and faced the man "you all remember that I told you I'd be giving you a mission before I decide whether or not to sanction your team" it was more of a comment than a question.

He typed something into the keys of an obnoxiously large and complex computer, and a picture of a thick woman with short reddish hair, and black/gold armour up. Donna seemed to recognise "This is Devastation. Supposedly a living weapon created by the ancient titan 'Cronus'. The League has received reports of various disappearances all across the globe, and Wonder Woman seems to believe the crime scenes carry evidence of her doing."

"And you want us to stop her?" Wonder Girl asked, entirely business.

In lieu of replying Batman pressed some more keys, and a young girl's image appeared "this is Bethany Willis, a student at Arizona State University. I've looked at the series of kidnappings, and I believe she's Devastation's next target. Your jobs are to keep an eye on her, and radio in the League when Devastation attacks."

"So we get to play secret service for some chick, waiting for Zeus's baby sister to show up and give us a godly pounding, purely for the sake of giving you a show of our teamwork skills?" Melina summarised.

"Exactly. I'll be allowing you access to the jet for this mission only. Your success and ability to operate within mission parameters will determine my decision. Go"

The older teens followed Batgirl to a large suspended platform where the sleek black Batplane lay waiting.

"Shotgun!" Blackhawk suddenly yelled.

"It only has one forward seat, and that's for the pilot, i.e _me" _Batgirl jabbed a finger towards herself.

"Pfft, what kind of jet only has one seat up front" the other girl complained as she sat down beside Wonder Girl, who had taken a spot already.

"The kind that was made by and for an emotionless automaton" Donna smirked.

"Ha, sick burn" Melina grinned.

The jet took off and flew out of the cave into the bright sky.

"You really think they can handle it?" Canary asked the Dark Knight.

"That's what i'm afraid of" he admitted.

**Arizona State University**

"Target sighted Short-Stop, Hot-Bod going in" Blackhawk radioed in.

_"For the last time, we are _not _using code-names!"_ Wonder Girl replied from her place overlooking the university quad from the roof of a campus building.

"C'mon Big-Bones, what if Ugly figures out how to hack comm systems?"

"_First don't call me that, second she wont"_

"Whatever, I'm engaging the Watermelon" the younger hero replied.

_"Watermelon? Why is she watermelon now?" _Stephanie asked, confused and annoyed at the codename. The girl was stationed on a tower across the street from the university.

"Miss Willis?" In the time between the girls landing at Arizona, and Melina making her way to Bethany, the young hero had managed to exchange her costume for a pants-suit, an earpiece and dark sunglasses to give the effect of an actual secret service agent "your gonna have to come with me" she said monotone, while putting on a heavy southern accent.

_"For the love of Hera, your scaring the girl" _Wonder Girl scolded.

"Hey, who put you in charge? Huh princess?" Melina momentarily forgot the act she was putting on.

_"My age, so I'm in charge"_

"Spoil sport"

"Who are you talking to?" The young student and her friends asked Melina.

"Uh... nobody?" She sheepishly laughed.

_"Guys? I think our bad guy made it" _Batgirl announced.

Suddenly, the ground shook as tall, thick woman, with cropped reddish hair, and bulky armour landed.

"You" she pointed at Bethany "your coming with me"

"Not so fast Gabriela Isler, she isn't going nowhere" Melina stepped between them.

"Who are you to challenge me?" Devastation sneered.

"Names Hot-Bod- I mean Blackhawk, and I'm here to beat your ugly butt back to... wherever you came from"

After a moment, the larger woman burst into laughter "you believe a mere mortal could challenge the champion of Cronus?" Her hearty grin immediately dropped "I will crush you, just as my lord will crush your world"

Blackhawk ran forward, and extended her batons. She swung them at Dev's legs. The pair of clubs hit their targets with a solid thud, but to no effect. Devastation remained standing, and chuckled deeply at Melina's failed attack.

The beefy woman took hold of Melina's collar, and lifted her into the air a foot or so, scowling in the blonde's face. Melina hastily placed a hand to her ear.

"Guys? Some help please!"

"Your mortal friends can't help you now" Dev maliciously grinned

"Then it's a good thing she isn't a mortal" Melina retorted. Suddenly, a harsh impact on Devastation's back caused her to drop Blackhawk to the ground, and spin to face Wonder Girl.

"Finally, a competitor worth facing" Devastation marched towards Donna, ignoring both Melina and Bethany, who had yet to move from her place watching the events unfold in shock.

"I'll send back to the pits of Hades where you belong _Titan_" Donna spat.

"And _I _will do to you what Hades should have done to your mother centuries ago _Amazon_" the other woman sneered.

With a battle cry, Donna swung her now unsheathed sword at the other woman, who quickly lifted an armoured hand to block the blow. Dev returned with a rough kick upwards. Donna held fast through the winding blow, and pulled her sword back, the two returning into combat stances.

"You're strong girl" Devastation offered "but I'm stronger"

Devastation took the moment to go on the offensive. She swung her meaty hands at Donna, who ducked and dodged every attack with decreasing skill and ease. Wonder Girl was beginning to lose her confidence, and she hoped Stephanie would join in soon.

Suddenly, an explosion was set off directly on Dev's back, forcing the woman to stumble forward shortly, and giving Wonder Girl a short reprieve.

"There's another one?" Devastation growled.

"Yeah, and she's ready to kick some ugly butt!" Stephanie swung into Dev, hitting the large woman in the chest with a drop kick of sorts.

Dev scowled and cracked her neck from side to side, as Stephanie began to regret her choice. The self proclaimed 'champion of Cronus' tried to swing her thick arm and backhand Stephanie away, but a tugging force around her wrist pinned the limb across her chest. Devastation looked down at the snared body part and saw a silver rope tied around it, and the other end gripped between Wonder Girls hands.

With a roar, Devastation threw her arm backwards with a super-strengthened tug. Simultaneously, the limb threw Donna off her feet and towards the enraged 'weapon', as the attack intended for Stephanie finally connected, and caused the now unsuspecting girl an extra degree of harm in her shock.

Melina finally returned to her feet, and immediately set about attacking Devastation, only for her batons to be caught in hands twice the size of her own, and herself thrown high into the air, arcing down to have her head connect with Stephanie's, and incapacitate them both.

Rather than aid her two fallen comrades, Donna elected to continue engaging their large enemy, by slinging the rope back to her belt, and slipping the elegant shield off her back. She jumped up at Devastation, and smashed the protective plate in her powerful jaw. Donna was sure she may have knocked a few teeth loose.

Devastation turned back to the slightly smaller girl, and lifted her up by the neck with ease. The raven-haired princess struggled hopelessly against her foe, as Dev jerked her forehead towards Donna's repeatedly, blooding the younger's nose, and fogging up her vision. Devastation dropped the defeated girl to the ground, and grunted in success. She lumbered over to the shell-shocked Bethany Willis, and threw the terrified girl over her shoulder, before leaping away from the scene.

All three girls groggily stood, and the blondes shot poisonous glares at the Amazonian.

"Gee, thanks for the teamwork Donna" Melina spitefully said. She pulled out a small device from her belt, before typing on the compact keyboard it held.

Batgirl placed a hand to her cowl's ear, and began to talk to an unknown person. No doubt explaining what happened to Batman.

Wonder Girl knew she should take responsibility for her actions. Admit she had placed a petty desire to defeat the creation of Cronus, over the wellbeing of her friends. But that gods damned stubborn side of hers won out, and she simply ignored the painfully hateful stares to wipe the blood off her face, and check her shield for battle damage.

After a moment or two, Stephanie turned back around to report her finding to the other girls. "Batman said he was prepared for this, and he has the location of another potential victim. Ian Reeves is a high-school senior in Ottawa, Canada. Batman thinks that's where Devastation may hit next"

"Excellent, this time you girls-" Donna was cut off.

"With all due respect" Melina sarcastically said "you _really _shouldn't be giving orders after the disaster that was this fight"

Donna grit her teeth to keep in the angry reply. She knew the blond was correct.

"I'll take charge from here" Stephanie decided, ignoring Melina rolling her eyes "and this time I want to try a more diplomatic approach. Little combat, so we can try to get some information for the League out of her"

The other girls reluctantly agreed on the passive approach, and piled into the Batplane behind Steph.

**Ottawa, Canada**

_"Okay Short-Stop, got my eyes on-"_ Stephanie stopped the girl there.

"For god's sake Melina, if you call him a piece of fruit, I'll stick an explosive batarang so far up your butt you'll taste searing metal for dinner."

_"Jerk... I'm set up anyway, just try not to get killed" _the other blonde replied.

"How 'bout you Donna, in position?"

_"... Yeah, I'm there" _the eldest girl was still a bit sore from the first encounter with Devastation.

_"Okay, big girl incoming" _Melina called as the telltale figure fell from the sky to land before Ian, his friends, and unwittingly, Stephanie's hiding place.

"Ian Reeves, you have been summoned" she boomed, taking a step forward. This was Batgirl's cue to help.

"Wait" she ordered. Devastation stopped, and twisted her neck to face the far smaller teen.

"You again? I'll have to end you _permanently" _the large woman strode towards Batgirl who hastily raised her arms in submission.

"Wait! I don't want a fight!" She cried, and Dev stopped once again.

"A warrior who refuses to fight? Pathetic... Although I will allow you to speak"

"We just want to know, why are you doing this. Why are you kidnapping innocent people?"

"They are necessary casualties for the reckoning to take place" Devastation announced "soon the usurpers who reside on Olympus will be no more, and the world will once again fall under the control of it's _true _masters" the answer was cryptic, yet unsettling.

Devastation turned from the girl to agin approached the frightened boy.

"I can't let you take him" Stephanie called out.

"You cannot stop me" the blonde ran forward and jumped at Dev, who swatted the girl from the air like a bug. She lifted the frozen young man over her shoulder, and leapt away again, just as Donna and Melina reached the ground to help.

"Crap... Maybe we should have taken closer vantage points" Melina offered.

"It wouldn't have mattered, the plan was flawed from it's conception" as she said this, Donna threw a sour look at the slowly rising Batgirl.

"Oh, _my_ plan was flawed. Remind me again how successful _yours _was?" Stephanie scoffed.

"C'mon guys" Melina tried to interrupt.

"At least under _my_ leadership, we had a chance to stop Devastation" Donna ignored her.

"Don't do this girls" Melina said.

"At least under _my _leadership, we know what Devastation is trying to do!"

"Girls..." Blackhawk now frowned.

"Oh yes, 'usurpers' and 'true masters', _so _helpful"

"GUYS!" Blackhawk finally snapped. The other two turned to her, shocked by her outburst "_both _of you had shitty plans and _both _of you were terrible leaders. And that's why I'm taking charge."

"What!?" The others chorused.

"You heard me. Now c'mon, let's not leave Devastation waiting."

"Well what's _your_ plan?" Donna asked.

"Easy. Iv'e been looking at the list of names Devastation kidnapped, and I was finally able to decipher the similarities... Bloodlines" they looked at her confused "centuries ago, there were a series of Greek demigod warriors. Theseus, Perseus, Odysseus, the list goes on. Basically, most of these demigods had children, who had children and that too goes on. I traced the bloodlines of these warriors, and our kidnap victims, and the line match up."

"So, your saying that the victims are the descendants of Greek gods?" Stephanie asked.

"Exactly. Thats not all though. As I'm sure you know, Donna, Cronus was the king of titans, and one of his many acts of evil was that he devoured his children out of fear they would rise up and overthrow him" she explained.

"That doesn't mean we know where she went" Wonder Girl explained.

"No, but I have a hunch" Melina smirked.

**Gotham City**

The three finally arrived where Blackhawk led them, and were now standing on a roof across from a seemingly normal house.

"There it is" Melina announced, holding her arm out to the house.

"I don't get what's so special about it" Wonder Girl frowned.

"A few years back, Black Canary and I followed a police call to this house over a domestic disturbance. When investigated, they found a happy wife, and a content husband, but we weren't satisfied. Later that night, the couple left to go to dinner. And we broke in to do our own investigation."

"What did you find?" Stephanie asked.

"In the basement, we found a girl. She was about fifteen, and her left arm was missing from the elbow down. It looked like it was freshly removed. When we asked, she told us that not only had her parents been the ones to do it, but they had cut off, and _eaten _their own daughter's arm. We had them locked up in Arkham for life, and the girl was moved to a foster family, we still talk sometimes, she's a pretty cool chick."

"And do you have a plan?" Donna was unfazed by the story.

"Of course I do..."

Once Melina relayed the plan to the girls, they quietly crept into the silent abode, hoping to catch the woman who had caused them no small amount of trouble today by surprise.

Now alone, Melina slowly descended towards the basement, taking the stairs one at a time, and stuck to the shadows as she overheard Devastation's unmistakable voice.

"Now we have enough god-blood, the ritual can begin"

"W-what ritual?" A particularly daring voice asked.

"The resurrection of Cronus, true ruler of Olympus, of course"

"I'm afraid your not resurrecting shit" Melina stepped into the light of the dozens of candle stationed around the circle of bound kidnap victims.

"You!.. I _knew _I should have killed you when I had the chance!" Dev roared.

"Well you didn't, and now it's come back to bite you on the ass" Melina began to pace around the room, forcing Devastation to turn her back on some of the victims as she turned to follow.

"You truly are foolish to think you stand a chance."

"Blah blah, less talky more fighty" Melina attempted to end the prolonged banter.

"I have the power of a god, what chance do you stand?"

Little to Devastation's knowledge, Batgirl had been crawling around the darkness in the room, cutting the bonds of the victims as Devastation turned her back on them. Blackhawk finally made it back to the basement entrance, as Batgirl and Wonder Girl took stances on wither side of her.

"Well if your a god, then I guess we'll just have to be the Titans"

With an amplified roar, Devastation ran at the three, who separated and regrouped on the other end of the room. As the larger woman turned for a second charge, Batgirl waved her hands in strange way, prompting the hostages closest to the exit to sprint up the stairway.

"Do you understand the magnitude of your actions!?" Dev screamed.

"Yes, and now your evil master will forever rot in the pits of Tartarus" Wonder Girl returned.

With an outraged cry, Dev sprinted for the trio once more, who again dodged her attack to force her to another side of the room. Batgirl gave a second signal, and the hostages on the opposite side followed the original group.

"Okay Batgirl, you know what to do" the other blonde nodded in confirmation, and stayed back while Wonder Girl and Blackhawk used their respective weapons of choice to drive Devastation to the other side of the room.

Melina swiped her batons at Devastation's legs and torso, dealing the damage of a bee sting, but keeping her occupied enough for Batgirl to finish freeing the hostages and sprint out of the room itself.

"Wonder Girl, your turn" she ordered.

"Are you sure?" The taller girl asked.

"Yeah, now go, I'll catch up."

Wonder Girl turned and sprinted out of the room, leaving only an enraged Devastation, and Blackhawk, now gripping a collection of handcuffs.

The smaller girl jumped into the air, and licked off the wall, using the compact size of the basement to her advantage in moving around Devastation, and cuff her arms and legs to various support beams and heating grates.

By the time she was finished, Devastation gad been cuffed enough to be barely able to shuffle on the spot. She tested her limbs, and the flimsy metal of the cuffs already began to bend and break.

"These restraints cannot hold me for long mortal" she growled.

"They're not meant to" Melina turned on her heel and began to strut up the stairs, and out of the house, pulling a small device from her belt, and pressing the button which subsequently detonated the explosive pods she had Donna place around the house earlier.

She stepped outside with a bright backdrop of fire and wooden debris flying through the air behind her, stepping towards the collected hostages, and her two friends.

"So... We did it" Steph grinned.

"Damn right we did it" Donna smirked.

A cough from beside drew their attention to the various victims standing by.

"We should... We should get them home" Melina said.

**Batcave**

"You blatantly disobeyed direct orders and put yourselves in danger to pursue a criminal that was clearly beyond your patrol. Not only this, but you failed to call for League support, as you were instructed, and failed to secure the target. For these reasons, not only are you not allowed to become a sanctioned team, but all three of you will be suspended indefinitely."

Melina, Stephanie and Donna all looked down as Batman ended his rant, trying to shake of the disappointed glares of their respective mentors.

"However" their heads shot up "we will consider ignoring your _gross _mistakes, and reconsider our decision if you answer a single question" Wonder Woman decided.

"Why _did _you disobey orders?" Canary asked.

When neither Wonder Girl or Batgirl owned up, Blackhawk stepped forward.

"It was my fault" she announced "after our failure to protect both Bethany Willis and Ian Reeves, I took control of the operation, and headed my own investigation into Devastation's actions. I take full responsibility for the events that took place."

The mentors shared a look. "All three of you will go home, and return here at 1800 hours" Batman ordered

The girls were confused "for what?" Donna asked.

"For your first patrol as a team of course" it took a moment for Canary's words to register with the girls, before their jaws collectively dropped.

"Does that mean..."

Batman gave a slow nod "you have our permission, to patrol, investigate, and be sent on missions, as a team"


	4. 3 Day Out

**-Day Out-**

**Gotham City**

The girls, or Titans as they now affectionately referred to themselves, were perched on the edge of a flat-roofed building overlooking Gotham Bay. The night had began with them simply on patrol, for the third night in a row, but had rapidly deteriorated into the kind of conversation many would deem 'normal' for a teenaged girl.

"How about... Bruce Wayne?" Melina asked them, she was lying along the edge of the building, and occasionally placing a marshmallow into her mouth.

"Oh god no... Just... Just no!" Stephanie suddenly cried indignantly from her place, sitting cross-legged just beside Blackhawk.

"Okay geez, Donna?" The other blonde urged.

"I think we've established I hold no interest in modern men" the eldest raised a brow.

"True... Then how about Oliver Queen?" Batgirl said.

"Nopa" Melina casually dismissed.

"Are there any people you have a thing for?" The youngest inquired exasperated.

"Well... Hawkwoman's pretty alright... But blondes are my thing, so if she weren't my aunt, Black Canary would count... Which is weird" Melina admitted.

"Wait... They're all girls" Wonder Girl noticed.

"Yeah, and?" Blackhawk stuffed another squishy treat into her maw.

"Not anything wrong with that, it's just... Well you never really expect to meet someone whose..." Steph attempted to justify.

"Gay. It isn't cancer, or Voldemort, just my sexual orientation" the girl sat up to stare out over the bay "besides, I get enough flak over it at school half the time" she frowned.

"Maybe we should get back to work?" Donna asked.

"Why, uncomfortable?" Melina pushed.

"Not by the conversation" the black haired girl raised a hand to point at a rapidly incoming meteor, hurtling for Gotham Bay.

It hit the water, and despite being about the size of a taxi, the impact caused an almost tsunami-like wave of the murky water to wash out over the shore and streets.

"Let's check it out" Melina ordered. After her successful plan in taking down Devastation, Melina had been elected to remain as team leader by both girls, until they could all work as a fully cohesive trio.

The pair of blondes pulled out zip-line devices, and rode down the thick cables to the water where their fortunately unscathed jet-skis sat waiting. They leapt off their lines, and each landed directly onto the vehicles, starting them up, and speeding across the bay to the crash site, while Wonder Girl flew behind.

They came to a stop above the approximate location of the meteor, and Stephanie pulled on a rebreathing device, diving into the dark depths toward the green glow of what was most likely a remnant of the kryptonite meteor the League destroyed about a month earlier.

Down below, Batgirl swam up to what she could now safely identify as a pod of some sort, with strange markings on the sides. She quickly sent a message out for Batman to recover and investigate the capsule, before resurfacing.

"Anything?" Melina asked with a distinct tone of boredom audible.

"Oh yeah" was all the youngest offered.

The sound of another body breaking the surface of the water drew their attention of Stephanie's jet-ski, where a figure was pulling itself out and onto the object.

"Hey, you!" Donna shouted. The figure gave a feminine yelp, and slipped. Her hand must have hit the ignition, as in seconds the jet-ski began barreling back towards the shore, with the unidentified girl still on.

"Wait, stop!" Blackhawk tried to warn, Batgirl now clinging to her back. The warning went unheeded, or unrecognised, as soon the jet-ski. Ploughed through the side of a docked boat, hitting it's engine block, and destroying both in a horrendous ball of flames.

"New game plan" the leader announced "I'll investigate on land, in case they survived, Donna will keep an eye out from above, and Steph, you check on the remains of that boat, until Batman arrives, then debrief him." They nodded, and quickly split up to check out their assigned places.

As her teammates left, Stephanie tentatively shuffled through the flaming wreckage of the boat, trying to keep an eye out for a charred corpse, or any other sign that the person was dead. She failed to notice a completely unblemished figure crawl out from the wreck, and sprint away from it.

Once she was happy there wasn't any evidence of a body, she remounted Hawk's jet-ski, and waited for her mentor to arrive and retrieve the crashed pod.

Back on land, Melina was running along the tops of uniformly stacked shipping containers, and leaping over gaps between the boxes where dock workers and shady characters went about their nightly 'business'.

Unlike Batgirl, she did not miss the sight of a body sprinting between the crates, and when they ran through the light of the moon shining between two containers, Melina noticed she was stark naked. Now _this _was interesting. She continued to follow through the shadows, leaping across containers to keep an eye on the surprisingly fast girl, and stopped when she saw her step into the light of a warehouse loading dock.

"Hey, Jim" one of the workers directed another one's attention to the girl.

A larger man stalked over to her with lecherous grin. "Hey there honey, how about I take you someplace quiet?" He placed a hand on her bare shoulder, and Blackhawk almost intervened. Suddenly she grabbed his hand, and bent his wrist back to the point of a sickening crack sounding.

The first worker walked over, "hey, I know Jim can be a dick but-" he was cut off when the girl threw Jim away several feet, and into a stack of wooden pallets.

"W-w-wait, don't hurt me!" The other man dropped to his knees in fear. The girl began to speak threateningly in a foreign language. "H-here, take my coat! Just don't hurt me!" He threw the long coat he was wearing at her, and she slipped it on to now cover her body. Melina frowned in disappointment.

The girl took off running again, her light blonde hair whipping in the wind behind her, and Blackhawk decided she should put an end to this.

The young hero dropped to the ground in front of the other, and called out for her to stop. She turned and kept running in the opposite direction, with Blackhawk in pursuit.

"Don't you understand me!? I said stop!" She shouted. The girl's head turned, and out of nowhere two bright red beams of energy spewed from her eyes, burning Melina's arm.

The girl screamed and threw her hands over her eyes, stopping the flow of lasers.

"Superpowers much?" The hero girl muttered. The chase quickly led into the city, and the girls began winding through streets and alleys, the blonde trying to escape, and Melina trying to stop her.

Blackhawk was eventually able to trap the girl in an alleyway, and held her hands up to show she meant no harm. "Woah, calm down, I don't wanna hurt you" she took a few tentative steps forward. But as she approached, the girl's legs lifted off the ground, and she ascended towards the sky. Melina's jaw dropped as the girl panicked and squirmed in air.

"You gotta burp Charlie!" She shouted, before groaning, and firing a grappling line up to the roof of the building beside them. She shot up and landed on the ground, but the other girl continued to rise upwards.

Her short flight was cut short however, when a familiar girl in a black unitard flew through the air, and tackled the girl back down through the roof of the building. Melina jumped down the new hole, and marched up to Wonder Girl, who was standing up over the downed blonde.

"Is there even a brain in that thick skull?!" She yelled.

"I don't know why your'e complaining, I caught our perp."

"Well our 'perp' doesn't know she's doing anything wrong, and doesn't even speak english"

"What do you-" Donna was cut off when the girl stood back up, seemingly undamaged from the fall. She began to babble in her language again, backed away from the pair of heroes in fear.

"Calm down, I'm not with her" Melina ignored Donna's indignant cry, as the girl ignored Blackhawk's attempts at sounding peaceful.

She continued to back away, her chest rapidly rising and falling with ragged breaths of fear. Her back hit a solid wall, and she turned to find herself face to face with the man most anyone in Gotham would attribute to fear incarnate. Beside him, a girl in a matching suit stared down at the blonde with an inquisitive expression.

Batman lifted a small canister of gas, and unleashed the fog in the girl's face. It swirled around her, seeping into her mouth and nose, before her eyes rolled back, and she fell roughly into the arms of Blackhawk, who had quickly moved forward to make sure Batman caused as little intimidation as possible.

"Was that really necessary?" Stephanie asked her mentor.

"I'm not arguing" Melina smirked, hugging the unconscious girl tightly.

**Batcave**

Batman stood by his impressive computer, and analysed samples of DNA he had taken from the girl. He had noticed that the unique genetic structure of the girl was strangely similar to Superman's.

Batgirl stood by the bed the girl lay on, and kept an eye on her vitals, ensuring that the encounter between her and Wonder Girl didn't cause any damage. Wonder Girl was leaning on a wall, and sharpening her sword monotonously, and Blackhawk spun around a wheelie chair she had procured out of boredom.

"This is _so boring_" she moaned.

"Then find something to do" Batgirl noncommittally replied.

"But the only thing I _want _to do is _unconscious_" the other blonde complained. Both other girls gave her shocked looks which were left ignored.

The sound of the restraints on the mystery girl's wrists snapping drew their collective attention to her. The turned, and saw she was slowly floating upward again, panicking as she rose. The sheet that had replaced the coat she wore slipped off, and fell directly onto Melina's face, who sighed in disappointment.

Donna was about to fly up and stop her, when a hand gripping the small ankle of the girl prevented her from rising any further. She was wrapped in a flowing red cape, and pulled into a calming embrace, just as Melina threw the sheet off her face.

"Curse you Superman's flowing cape" she scowled.

The two began to converse in a foreign language for a few minutes, as the girl's expression rapidly changed from confusion, to disbelief, to anger, and finally happiness.

The descended and turned to the other present heroes "Batman, girls, this is Kara Zor-El... She's... She's my cousin" he smiled, and they understood the happiness he would feel at meeting a member of his race.

"Great, I've been fantasising about Superman's cousin for the past hour and a half" Melina ignored a fresh round of shocked looks.

**Fortress of Solitude**

Months had passed, and during the entire period, the girls had often visited Kara in the quarantine Batman forced on her. It only took a week for her to learn fluent english, and after the first few months, she had learnt all human history and languages, had gotten a strong understanding of the sciences, and learnt basic self-defence. She was obviously a quick learner.

Melina had decided to visit this time in the hopes of convincing Batman to let Kara out for a while. The poor girl had been cooped up endlessly, and there was only so much human knowledge one could absorb.

"She entered the icy fortress, and made a beeline for Kara's room, where she found the other blonde lying on a bed, casually flicking through the pages of a Charles Dickens novel.

"Hey there alie-anna-rama" she greeted. The Kryotonian looked up and smiled brightly.

"Hey" she replied. Melina collapsed onto the bed next to her, and remained silent for a minute.

"How would you like to go outside?" The human asked suddenly.

"I'd like that very much, but Batman refuses to lift my quarantine" Kara frowned sadly.

"You leave Bat-bot to me, and focus on batting those eyelashes for your big-blue-boy-scout cousin" she stood, and dragged the alien out of the room "we can meet up back here before I take you out"

"If Batman lets me, you mean"

"_When _Batman lets you" Melina grinned, and tore down the hall, quickly finding Batman inspecting the pod Kara arrived in.

"Hey Bat-brain!" She called.

Batman sighed deeply "what is it Blackhawk?" He never looked up from his task.

"I was kinda sorta hoping that you could maybe let Kara out more an hour? Please?" She gave him her sweetest grin.

He turned to her for a split-second "no" and turned back.

"Oh come on, pretty please?"

"No"

"With a cherry on top?"

He waited "you won't leave me until I say yes, won't you?"

"Hell no"

"Fine, but be back before ten" he called out as she left.

"Yes _mom"_

She sprinted back to the room where Kara stood nervously, and grinned inside while she put on a disappointed face.

Kara sighed deeply when the expression upon Melina's face became clear "he said no, didn't he?" She frowned.

"No, he said be back before ten" Melina's face broke out into a wide grin, but it took a second for the words to register with the extraterrestrial, before she too gasped in happiness.

"I'll message Donna and Steph, tell them to meet us in Metropolis" Melina pulled her phone from her pocket as the two giddy girls walked to the exit from the the fortress.

Over the past months, Kara had also worked with Superman on honing and controlling her powers, leading her to have a comfortable grip on her strength, speed, flight, and laser-vision. This came in handy, as to greatly shorten the travel time, Kara could hook her arms under Melina's, who would in turn grab Kara for dear life, as they flew to Metropolis, making sure to remain unseen by the public of course.

The human directed Kara to descend into the large park at Metropolis's centre, where she had told Donna and Stephanie to meet them in their civvies. Melina ducked behind a shrub, and exchanged her costume for the civilian clothing she had packed in a backpack with expert speed, before jumping back out to stand beside Kara and wait.

Fortunately, both the other girls had the skills and equipment necessary to arrive in the park within the hour, avoiding suspicion all the while.

Both girls approached from the right angle to see Melina clearly waiting, but have their view of Kara obstructed by a thick tree beside them.

"So why did you-" the Amazonian's question was cut off when both girls finally noticed their friend's companion.

"Kara! What are you doing out!?" Stephanie asked in a mixture of disbelief and joy to see her newest friend out and about.

"Batman let me out for the day" the alien shrugged.

The leader of their group butt in and explained they should get going to beat the saturday crowds to all of the better shops in the area, and set off, leading them to her personal favourite store.

It was decidedly... cozy store, where clothing could be bought for a reasonable price, without sacrificing too much style. The girls spent a good hour or so there buying a while wardrobe for Kara, and left with Donna holding all the bags. She didn't complain, she was happy Kara was having fun.

Next, Stephanie took charge to lead the girls to the second important component of becoming a real Earth teen, and easily the one thing her two other friends ignored, make-up. She spent some time in a high-end boutique with Kara, while Donna and Melina stayed outside to peruse the displayed items in other shop windows.

Finally, Donna took the lead to show the Kryptonian girl the final part of Earth culture. Food. They traveled a short way to a greek style café, and took the foreign blonde in to try her first _real _taste of Earth food, and needless to say, the bill indicated she was a fan.

It had been a fairly successful day, but it was nearing the end of Batman's allotted time for Kara to be allowed to roam free. The girls finished the day with a walk through the empty park, enjoying the quiet night breeze.

"Melina, I just want to say thank you" Kara suddenly informed.

"Oh?" The shorter blonde asked.

"Yeah. Today has been the best day of my life in a long time, and it's all thanks to you" she smiled. They came to a stop beside a large bronzed statue in the middle of the park.

"My cousin, they worship him?" She looked at the statue depicting Superman in a traditional 'victory' pose.

"Try, idolise him" Stephanie corrected.

"But not just him, they idolise the whole League, Batman too" Donna continued.

"In fairness, they don't idolise the League-" Melina explained "-so much as they idolise what they, and all other heroes, do. Which is help people. For better or worse, a hero puts their life on the line to stand up for other people's way of life."

Kara nodded and stared back up at the statue with a wistful look. Suddenly, a rustling and some rough chuckling could be heard. Melina immediately pulled a spare domino mask from her pocket, and covered her identity with it, Stephanie doing the same.

Turning a corner of hedges, a large group of men spotted the girl's and their faces broke out into vicious grins.

"Well well, lookie here boys" one with a cap on under his hood said.

"Yeah, some... lovely ladies" another with dirty looking hair nodded.

"Maybe we should help 'em out" one boy who had shaved the sides of his head, but left the top long stepped forward.

The boys and their goons circled the girls, who readied into combat stances. Cap-guy laughed at this, and mad a move for Melina, but was stooped short when Kara grabbed his arm with a scowl.

"Aw, do you wanna go first?" he moved toward her, but she tightened her grip and bent the wrist back. A very loud crunch was heard, and the guy yelled in pain.

"Leave, now" the girl demanded, but the guys weren't having that.

Dirt-hair stepped up to help his friend, and swung his fist at Kara's face. It connected, and a crack sounded, but her was instead left grasping his now broken knuckles with a white face, and Kara directed a dirty look at him "I warned you"

The entire group ran at her, and ignored the other girls, but were dispersed quickly with Kara employing a variety of moves Blackhawk had taught her, and added her own level of strength to brake bones, and bust faces.

Soon, it was just Cap-guy, Dirt-hair, and Shaved-head left.

Shaved-head, who hadn't yet sustained any injures ran at her and threw his leg at her abdomen, but it was caught, and a swift smack to the knee bent the limb backwards, leaving him crying in the dirt.

Next, Cap-guy ran, clutching his crushed wrist to his chest, and swung at her, clearly not learning his lesson. He threw one more punch, and Kara caught it. She tugged his arm swiftly, before bending it at an awkward angle, which simultaneously dislocated and brome his previously uninjured arm.

Dirt-hair understood the message, and turned in a heel to sprint away from the scene. Melina swore she saw a darker wet patch around his groin as he ran away.

"Can't argue with results, but methods may be a little brutal" the blonde leader said.

"Me and Donna will call the paramedics and wait here, you two go back to the Fortress" Stephanie offered. Melina nodded, and was lifted up by Kara once again.

As they flew, Melina shouted up to the alien to be heard over the rushing wind.

"Y'know, you'd make and _awesome_ hero" she said.

Kara never replied, but Melina could see the corners of her lips curve upwards ever so slightly out the corner of her eye.


End file.
